Storyboard:

Title:

1955 - German Chancellor Adenauer in Moskow

Rights-Managed,
Editorial

Location and time:

Soviet Union, Moscow, 09-10-1955

Description:

Konrad Adenauer was a German statesman. Adenauer, a politician in the Catholic Centre Party, was Mayor of Cologne from 1917 to 1933, and as such, flirted with a Rhenish state as part of Germany, but outside Prussia. From 1922 to 1933 he was president of the Prussian State Council (Preussischer Staatsrat). In 1944, he was imprisoned for his opposition to the Nazis. He was first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949-1963, a period which spans most of the preliminary phase of the Cold War. In this period, West Germany was politically separated from East Germany. Adenauer was co-founder of the Christian Democratic Union, a successor to the Centre which hoped to embrace Protestants as well as Catholics in a single confessional party.

Sound Bite and conversation:

Wagenlehner, Gunther

(returnee when Adenauer was in Moscow) , speaking German: - "We arrived in Fürstenwalde, at a camp, to be released in East Germany. The majority did not want that, some of us yes, but the majority did not.
The trouble started here as we started a hunger strike.
"

Diehl, Gunter

(German delegation in 1955) , speaking German: - "I was very surprised when Adenauer suddenly stood up and said: “Ladies and gentleman, you are about to witness a very important moment.”
"

Bogumolov, Alexei

(Khrushchev’s interpreter) , speaking Russian: - "He could drink like a real man although he was tall and slim
"

Kempski, Hans-Ulrich

(Adenauer escort) , speaking German: - "Globke, the source of many solutions, made all the delegates take a tablespoon of olive oil before the negotiations to provide “solid ground” in their stomachs for such drinks.
"

Bogumolov, Alexei

(Khrushchev’s interpreter) , speaking Russian: - "Khrushchev was very incensed, banged his fist on the table and said: „If you are not willing to enter a diplomatic relationship under any circumstances, well then- we can wait!“
"

Keil, Rolf Dietrich

(Adenauer interpreter) , speaking German: - "Adenauer replied with the following: “Yes, everything is true, but horrible things also happened when the Soviet army invaded Germany.”
After all this, Khrushchev was unable to control himself.
"

Grewe, Wilhelm

(Adenauer's advisor) , speaking German: - "I guess the Russians made the decision to release the prisoners in any case. They were speculating about the price.
"

Wagenlehner, Gunther

(returnee when Adenauer was in Moscow) , speaking German: - "Somehow we had to trust that we’d return home. If someone lost hope or faith in general, those people died.
"

Keil, Rolf Dietrich

(Adenauer interpreter) , speaking German: - "The mood was very tense and I would rather call it skeptical.
I guess nobody believed in success.
"

Diehl, Gunter

(German delegation in 1955) , speaking German: - "Russians liked how careful we were at the beginning. Nowadays we would not behave like that. We sent a special railway vehicle, equipped with everything which could prevent being listened in on.
"

Kempski, Hans-Ulrich

(Adenauer escort) , speaking German: - "The majority belonged to the so called “Cold Warriors”. They did not even want to end this program successfully. It was a malignant country; both recognized each other as the mortal enemy, even in the press.
"

Wagenlehner, Gunther

(returnee when Adenauer was in Moscow) , speaking German: - "During the years of captivity nobody had shown his feelings, or cried or anything like that. But here everything was over.
"

Wagenlehner, Gunther

(returnee when Adenauer was in Moscow) , speaking German: - "I guess the thankfulness will never disappear. We all feel the same.
"